Guiding the Way: Reflections from a Mantle Journey – Sheepy Explores Aotearoa

I made a serious faux pas the morning of this lesson… I left Sheepy at home.

It dawned on me as soon as I walked through the classroom door. The look on my face must have given it away because before I had even put my bag down, the tamariki were asking, “Where’s Sheepy?”

There was no hiding it. I had to admit that I had forgotten him.

By golly, was I in trouble! How could I leave Sheepy at home? What if he got himself into trouble? What if he was lonely? The children immediately began sharing their concerns and ideas about how Sheepy could keep himself safe while there were no adults at home. They were genuinely worried about their little class mascot.

Looking back, this was one of those unexpected moments that you cannot plan for, but that becomes incredibly valuable. The children were not just talking about a toy sheep; they were drawing on their understanding of caring for others, making safe choices, and taking responsibility. Sheepy had become a real member of our classroom community, and their reaction showed how invested they were in his story.

Thankfully, I was able to pop home during morning tea to rescue him. However, before bringing him back to class, I couldn’t resist taking a quick photo of him stuck in the orange tree. When I returned and showed the tamariki the photo, they thought it was hilarious.

I explained that a neighbour had phoned me because they could hear a sheep “baaing” and calling for help from the tree. How on earth had Sheepy managed to get himself stuck up there? The children had plenty of theories!

This little mishap ended up being a blessing in disguise. Sheepy had clearly caught the adventure bug, but this time he wanted to travel further than our local area. The problem was… he didn’t know where he wanted to go.

The tamariki quickly became travel planners. Suggestions came flying in:

“He could go to Auckland!”
“He could go to Taupō!”
“He should go to the snow!”

Their ideas were full of excitement and possibility. To help us think about where these places were in relation to each other, I introduced a simple outline map of Aotearoa.

We began by locating our own place — Gisborne. Where are we? How far away are other places? What direction would we need to travel?

I had prepared a few photos of different places around the country, and together we began a tiki tour around Aotearoa.

Our first stop was Auckland.

We travelled up the Sky Tower and discussed how we might get to the top. One suggestion was to climb the stairs, so naturally, we had to try. We marched, and marched, and marched… it was a long way to the top! Eventually someone suggested, “Why don’t we just take the elevator?”

From the top of the Sky Tower, we looked out across Auckland and talked about what we could see. Tall buildings, roads, the harbour and the Harbour Bridge. We thought about how different Auckland looked compared to Gisborne and why cities might develop differently.

Our next stop was Auckland Zoo. We wondered what animals Sheepy might see and what they might be doing. The children became the animals of the zoo, moving around the space while Sheepy travelled through and narrated his adventure. This small moment of drama allowed them to step into another perspective and bring the place to life.

From there, we travelled north to Cape Reinga, where we discovered the lighthouse that helps guide ships safely around the top of Aotearoa. We talked about how people use landmarks to navigate and how important these places can be.

In Wellington, we became the Prime Minister for the day and explored what their role is. What decisions do they need to make? Who do they help? What responsibilities come with that job?

In Queenstown, we explored why it is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand. And finally, we travelled to Stewart Island, a special protected place where we became explorers searching for kiwi.

What I loved most about this session was the way the tamariki embraced every destination. They were not simply learning where places were on a map; they were imagining themselves there. They were climbing towers, becoming animals, making decisions, solving problems and creating stories.

Once again, we connected our exploration back to writing. The tamariki wrote diary entries from Sheepy’s perspective, describing where he had travelled and what he had experienced. We also began thinking about what makes a journey make sense. If we were planning a trip around Aotearoa, where would we go first? Where would we travel next? How would we get there?

We did not want to jump backwards and forwards around the country. A good journey needed to have a plan.

This was another reminder of the power of following the curiosity of the learners. The excitement and imagination of the tamariki was contagious. They were so engaged in helping Sheepy plan his adventure that I found myself wishing I was in their classroom more often, with more time to follow these ideas and explore them in greater depth.

Looking back, this could have become an entire inquiry in itself. We could have stepped into the role of travel agents, creating brochures for different parts of Aotearoa, researching places to visit, planning routes and convincing others why they should travel there.

That is one of the things I am learning through this Mantle journey — sometimes the richest learning opportunities come from the unexpected moments. A forgotten sheep, a silly photo in an orange tree, and a simple question of “Where should Sheepy go?” opened the door to geography, storytelling, drama, writing and a deeper connection to our own country.

And perhaps most importantly, it reminded me that when tamariki are genuinely invested in the story, they are ready to take the learning further than I ever could have planned.